Field Guide

Northern red oak is a favorite for planting in streets and parks and is one of the most widespread and commercially important of the oaks.

A very small shrub of our native prairies and other open sites, New Jersey tea was used by patriotic American colonists as a substitute for black tea imported from England during the Revolutionary War.

Red buckeye and Ohio buckeye are both found in Missouri. You can distinguish red buckeye by its having usually 5 leaflets (not 7), its red (not greenish-yellow) flowers, and the absence of any spines on its fruit hulls. Although both buckeyes are cultivated statewide, red buckeye grows in the wild only in our southeastern counties.

Ohio buckeye is one of the first trees to leaf out in spring, and its palmately compound leaves make it look somewhat coarse textured. But most of all, buckeyes are known for buckeyes! People often carry these shiny brown seeds in their pockets for luck.